Lord Michael Grade joined Conor Burns MP at 天美传媒 for an in-depth tour of the Faculty of Media and Communication.
Lord Grade held many positions in media throughout his career including Controller of BBC1, Chairman of the BBC and CEO of Channel 4 and is currently a Conservative Party life peer in the House of Lords.
He took the time to speak with students about their work at BU before taking a tour of the television studios and speaking with lecturers and students about our television and film courses.
The next stop on the tour was a trip to the Faculty鈥檚 screening room to look at the work of students and graduates of BU鈥檚 National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA). Lord Grade stated that he was very impressed as he was shown visual effects clips from current students and heard about the NCCA鈥檚 courses and links with industry.
Accompanied by Conor Burns MP, 天美传媒鈥檚 Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney, Pro Vice-Chancellor John Fletcher and Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Faculty of Media and Communication, Lord Grade then spent some time being interviewed by media students inside the new Student Centre.
Lord Michael Grade said, 鈥淚 am gobsmacked at what I鈥檝e seen as to how dynamic this place is. You can feel that this is an institution that is growing. It鈥檚 in the right place, it鈥檚 got the right offer, it鈥檚 got the right students, and it鈥檚 got the right relationships with industry and future employers. It鈥檚 sensational!鈥�
Zachary Mitchell was part of the television production team to meet Lord Grade as he entered the Faculty of Media and Communication. The Television Production聽student spoke to Lord Grade about what they were doing as a part of their course. Zachary said,聽鈥淚t was quite surreal to meet Lord Grade at first 鈥� but he was so interested in everything I had to say, and so impressed with the facilities available to us at BU, that I quickly relaxed. I was really pleased to have the honour of showing him around one of our live TV studios and discuss the sort of work I鈥檓 currently doing on my TV Production course.鈥�
Edward Lawrence, a final year Television Production student at 天美传媒, interviewed Lord Grade about his visit and said, 鈥淗e was a very personable chap he had a very positive view of the university.鈥�
When asked if he had any advice for current media students looking to carve out a career in the media for themselves, Lord Grade said, 鈥淚 would always say to people who want to get into the industry, you鈥檝e got to want it so badly, you鈥檝e got to be able to take rejection and the people who get in are the people who want it the most. If you鈥檝e got that kind of drive and determination you鈥檒l get in.鈥�
